Finished just in time for Book Club tomorrow (held virtually, as you'd expect). Miss Pandora politely sat in my lap the whole time I binged the last 100 pages, which made the day super peaceful and cozy given we just got hit with a snowstorm. 

News of the World follows Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a traveler who reads newspapers to crowds in post-Civil War Texas for money, as he makes the treacherous journey to deliver Johanna, a 10-year old white girl who had been raised by the Kiowa following a rade that killed her family, to her relatives in near San Antonio. The Captain is an elderly man and Johanna has no memories of English or "civilized" society, so they make an unlikely duo on a very dangerous journey.

The writing of this book was what I would call poetic. The word choices were crisp and precise and I would love to hear them read out loud by someone with a voice like Hugo Weaving. It fit perfectly with the story given that language and oral stories are such a big part of it. 

Jiles' writing style reminds me a bit of what I've read of Cormac McCarthy, though I like the way she writes much better. McCarthy's writing is good but could rag while Jiles' kept me wrapped up and didn't feel like I had to push to finish it. Her descriptions of the Texas landscape were really pretty and the characters felt real to me. I absolutely adored Johanna. She felt like a child, which was awesome, but a very different child character than what I've read in the past. I think I was expecting someone more like Eleven from Stranger Things but Johanna has way more spice and sass in my opinion.

My favorite part of the book was the ending. It wasn't a perfect ending for all involved but it was a happy ending. It left me feeling warm and fuzzy and also a bit like crying, which I think is a good way for a story to end.

Final rating: 4.5 out of 5. A wonderful historical fiction story with one of my favorite pairings I've followed in a while.

Final thought: A actual part of the book is Captain teaching Johanna that scalping is rude and it's hilarious. 

This is what my book club chose for their March read. I put this on hold IN JANUARY. Just came in today. Needless to say, I'm behind but look forward to digging in. 

Get ready for a speed read!!!

News of the World is a story about the way two very different people can change one another. It's a simple story—in fact, an old and familiar one—about a young girl who was captured by a Native American tribe and now is being forced to return to her old life. There's nothing new or surprising about this story, but it is told with such care and attention to details that the too familiar story has been given a fresh coat of paint.

The best part of this story is perhaps the details of Captain Kidd, a very old man who travels the country reading newspapers at public gatherings. It's such a fun idea for a character, giving readers a unique view of the time and steering far from the expected chaperone—an army general or a sheriff.

I'm a little surprised that this book was a National Book Award finalist. It's good. It's entertaining. But it never struck me as something particularly special. It's definitely one I would recommend to anyone looking for a fairly light, historical novel.

Captain Jefferson Kidd travels around from small town to small town, like Cyrano de Bergerac, reading from newspapers and sharing the news of the world with those who pay a dime for the privilege of listening to him read it. Newspapers were scarce then and not everyone could read. For some it was a social event, and for some it was a time to raise a ruckus. Once, the captain had his own printing press, but the wars during his lifetime had taken their toll. He had lived seven decades, and he missed both his deceased wife and his former newsman’s life. His two daughters lived in Georgia, where the Civil War had also altered their lifestyles. They did not have the money to rejoin him in his home town in Texas, but he hoped they would some day soon.

During his travels, he arrived in a town and noticed the same man he had seen at his last couple of readings. He wondered why he had been following him. The man, soon revealed his reason. Britt Johnson*, asked the captain to take a child back to her German relatives. He offered him the $50 gold coin he was given for the task, because he said the child was belligerent and white. He did not think, as a black man, that he could guarantee her safety or his own. The child had been kidnapped at the age of six. She witnessed the death of both her parents and her younger sister who were murdered by the Kiowa. Now, after four years, she had forgotten her past and fully identified with the Indian tribe more than with her own true biological background. The captain agreed to take Johanna home to an aunt and uncle because, although he was old and the journey would be hard, he felt it was the right thing to do. How he managed to get Johanna to her relatives and what he learned about them, was the crux of the novel.

As they traveled together, they both learned more about life from each other. Just as the captain tried to help Johanna adjust to the more civilized world, this precocious child showed him how comfortable it was to live in the more savage world of her last four years. She was a survivor and she became a great help to him. She was resourceful, intuitive, precocious and far more mature than her years.

Soon, although the child and the captain were burdened with their memories, they learned how to comfort each other and fulfill each other’s need for affection and someone to trust. The story of their travels and relationship was both interesting and exciting to read as the lawlessness and danger of the territories began to surface on each page. The author’s description of the time and place made the reader feel right in the thick of it. How they survived and moved off into the future was simply a good story. However, the writing style was unusual because no quotations were used to delineate speech from pure narrative which sometimes led to confusion. Also, it was difficult to tell which parts of the story were based on real history and which were based on the author’s imagination.

*Britt Johnson is the stuff of legends. A hero, Johnson was the slave of Moses Johnson who freed him and gave him money enabling him to rescue his own family from the Indians.